Salted Lime Mexican-Inspired Roasted Onions

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As a lot of you already know, Papi Chulo is not a big onion person. Even when enjoying his beloved lechon asado, he won’t eat all of the onion pieces. These salted lime onions are the one exception to the rule! We had dinner with a Mexican friend earlier this year and she made oven roasted onions served with salt and limes. He loved them and, less than a week later, requested that I make them again! I’ve made these onions several times now, and I’ve started adding lime juice to the raw onions, too, and this makes them even more delicious.

These roasted onions are easy to make and go fantastically well with so many different dishes. Some time in the oven transforms a regular white onion into a soft, sweet creation of deliciousness, and the salt & lime juice tang offers the perfect flavor counterpoint.

The only ingredients are a couple limes, some sea salt (Himalayan pink sea salt is even better than regular sea salt on these onions!) and olive oil. How simple is that? Use a medium/large white onion for each person. You can get sweet onions if you want, but it really isn’t necessary.

Peel the onions.

Then carefully cut an “X” in the top of each onion. You only need to cut an inch or so in – do not cut the onion into quarters.

Then you pop each onion on a generous square of aluminum foil, drizzle about 1/2 a teaspoon of olive oil and lemon juice over each one, wrap them up, and roast in a 350º oven until they’re nice and tender! Yep, that simple.

Yield: 4

Salted Lime Mexican-Inspired Roasted Onions

Prep Time5 minutes

Cook Time45 minutes

Total Time50 minutes

Ingredients

4 medium/large white onions

2 teaspoons of lime juice + at least four additional lime wedges (I use lime juice for drizzling then cut up a whole lime for serving)

2 teaspoons of olive oil

Freshly ground sea salt, to taste

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350º F.

Peel the onions, as shown above, then cut an "X" into the top of each one. Only cut about 1" deep, not all the way through.

Place each onion in the center of a large square of aluminum foil.

Slightly separate the X with one hand then pour about 1/2 a teaspoon of olive oil and 1/2 a teaspoon of lime juice in/on each onion.

Tightly wrap the onions in their aluminum foil squares.

Place the wrapped onions directly on the rack in your preheated oven, making sure the top of each onion/foil packet is facing up. This prevents unnecessary dripping in your oven!

Roast until the onions are sweet and tender all the way through, about 45 minutes. To check for doneness, carefully remove an onion from the oven with hot pads and use hot pads/tongs to unwrap it. A knife should slip easily in and out of the onion, and you should notice a translucent appearance.

When the onions are finished cooking, remove them from the onion and carefully unwrap them. I use a combination of tongs and an oven mitt!

I realize these aren’t exactly the most glamorous photos I’ve ever shared, but these onions are so delicious I couldn’t help wanting to write up the recipe.

I know people have varying nutritional goals and needs, so feel free to leave out the olive oil if you need to. They’re still very tasty without! I started adding olive oil to the recipe because I consistently have trouble making my fat consumption goal for the day. Said no one else ever, right?? But, really, it is a struggle for me and, yes, I do have a goal amount of fat to eat each that I track along with the rest of my macros. I’ve also started drinking my morning espresso in coconut milk (the kind in a can) and that’s helped, but not as much as you might think. When you don’t really eat processed foods, getting enough fat in your diet is harder than you might guess!

Whether it’s macronutrients of food groups, do you ever find yourself struggling to meet you nutritional goals? What gives you trouble?

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